Photography Class {Week 1}

As I mentioned before, I’ve started a photography class at an art studio near my house. Lillstreet is a pretty fabulous place, with some fantastic creative class offerings, and I’m beyond excited to finally be taking advantage. I’ve had my DSLR for a couple years now, and have done what I can to learn how to use it myself. I took a one day seminar a while back, and have done a decent amount of research online. But I was feeling a bit stuck, like I couldn’t progress more until I got more formal training. I really admire people who are self taught at anything, because I have a hard time with that myself!

What pushed me over the edge was the Adobe Lightroom editing software that I got for my birthday in June. I was so excited to start actually editing my photos, but I quickly discovered that I had no idea how to actually do the editing. A quick internet search confirmed that the fall session at Lillstreet was starting in September, and I signed myself right up! I’ve already learned an incredible amount in the first two weeks of class, and can’t wait to see how my photography has progressed by the end of the 10 weeks.

We have a new assignment every week, and have to choose 10 of the pictures from each assignment to share with the class. I’m going to post all the assignments on the blog, too, so I have a record of my work each week. We’re not getting into the editing part until week 5, so for now these are completely unedited-- no cropping or anything.

This week’s assignment was color. Some pictures were taken in class, while exploring the children’s classroom at Lillstreet, which is full of bright hues. I also went to a playground and garden at a school by my house, and did a little photography around the condo. It was hard to pick out ten to share, but these are the ones I chose. I’m also going to note a couple comments the instructor and other students mentioned, for my own reference. Don’t judge too harshly… this is just week 1!

My classmates really liked the perspective in this one.
I had fun with it, too :)

Next time I'd put the more colorful ones in front, and then focus there.
I learned that usually the objects in front should be in focus. 

I would completely reframe this next time. I love the blue and orange
containers, but the soap dispenser kills the shot. Boo!

This one got me a lot of complements! People liked the vibrant colors,
and the framing. They said it felt playful, too.

Classic Chicago!

This was a favorite for the perspective, being up close and at an angle.

This was a time when I could have used used my lens hood, to avoid
lens flare. 

The white balance could have been better here. It was a rainy evening, though,
and hard to get a good exposure. The pillows are off-white, too, so the camera
didn't have any true white to use.